There are so many things that you can do with NFC on your iPhone apart from Apple Pay. One of them is the ability to create your own custom NFC tags. With the release of iOS 13, you can now write NFC tags with your iPhone. Let’s see how.
How to Create Custom NFC Tags With an iPhone
NFC is a wireless data transfer technology, like Bluetooth but with a few key differences. You can store a variety of data in an NFC tag ranging from ID credentials to custom triggers for running Shortcuts. Plus these tags are dirt cheap which makes it ideal for creative uses.
To program an NFC tag with your iPhone, you’d need the latest iOS 13, an iPhone 7 or newer, and of course some inexpensive NFC tags from Amazon.
1. Start by installing the NFC Tools app from the App Store on your iPhone. Once the app is downloaded, tap “Write”. It would open a new page, tap “Add a record” to create an entry for the NFC tag.
2. You can upload text, URL, Email ID, Contact Card, Phone Number, etc on an NFC tag. For the demonstration, I’ll add a URL to the NFC tag. Add the URL in the given field and tap OK. Now, you’ll see a populated list on the app with the URL data. Tap the “Write” button to begin the process.
3. The app will prompt you to bring the tag near the iPhone. Grab the NFC tag and touch it near the top edge of the iPhone. It would write the tag and give you visual and haptic feedback which would mean that the tag has been successfully written.
Now the tag will prompt a notification every time it is read by a device. You can go ahead and try it with your iPhone and it should work and open the URL that you stored on it.
Most of these tags are rewritable which means you can write new data on the tag over and over again, making it truly customizable. You can check the status of the tag in the app by selecting the Read button.
This was a quick way to create custom NFC tags by writing it with a simple app. There are a lot of quirky projects that you can create with NFC as triggers. For example, I created a simple HTML form that helps me log on to a Captive Portal by simply tapping my iPhone next to the tag. What would you create with these cheap NFC tags, let me know in the comments below?
Also Read: The Best iOS Feature You’re Not Using
